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A white former University of Maryland student was found guilty of murder Wednesday for stabbing a black college student to death at a bus stop on the university’s campus in 2017.
Sean Urbanski, 24, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for fatally stabbing Richard Collins III, 23, in May 2017. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 16, 2020.
A Prince George’s County jury deliberated for two hours before finding Urbanski guilty of first-degree murder.
Prosecutors argued the crime was racially motivated, but on Tuesday Circuit Court Judge Lawrence Hill Jr. agreed to throw out a hate crime charge against Urbanski before jurors began deliberating.
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Prosecutor Jason Abbott said a toxic mixture of alcohol and racist propaganda emboldened Urbanski to target Collins based on his hatred of black people. Urbanski belonged to “Alt Reich: Nation” group on Facebook, a group whose members post disparaging comments about African-Americans and others. He also had at least six racist memes saved to his cell phone.
Sean Urbanski, 22, at left, is accused of stabbing Richard Collins III., 23, on the University of Maryland campus in College Park early Saturday, May 20, 2017. (University of Maryland Police Department/Collins family)
Collins was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, and prior to his death he was preparing to deploy to the demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea. He was days away from graduating from Bowie State University, a historically black college, and was celebrating with friends at the bars surrounding University of Maryland’s College Park Campus when he was attacked.
Urbanski, who had then been enrolled at Maryland’s College Park Campus, did not deny stabbing Collins but one of his lawyers said there was no evidence the killing was racially motivated. The lawyer argued there was no evidence Urbanski hated or advocated violence against any ethnic group or race.
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Urbanski had also been out drinking with friends that fatal night. Defense Attorney William Brennan said an expert defense witness concluded that Urbanski’s blood alcohol level was three times the legal driving limit at the time of the killing, which would render him too drunk to premeditate the killing for a first-degree murder conviction.
Around 3 a.m. on a Saturday night, Urbanski approached Collins as he waited for an Uber with a friend, a white man, and an Asian woman they met at the bus stop. Urbanski watched them for more than 10 minutes before he left and returned waving a folding knife and came up on the friends from a wooded area, according to Abbott.
"Step left, step left if you know what's best for you," Urbanski told them, according to the charging documents.
"No," Collins said before Urbanski stabbed him once in his chest.
Abbott said Collins had his hands in his pockets when Urbanski attacked him.
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After stabbing Collins, Urbanski folded the knife, put it in his pocket and sat down on a bench until police arrived, according to Abbott. Police arrested him at the bus stop, 50 feet from where Collins lay dying.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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